What is a privacy policy?
If you operate a website or online shop and collect, transmit, process, or store personal data such as email addresses, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires you to inform website visitors about this in a privacy policy.
With a privacy policy, you show your website visitors that you take data protection seriously. With the privacy statement, you inform interested parties about
- how, for what purpose, and to what extent you process personal data and
- Who data subjects can contact if, for example, they wish to object to processing.
Why is a privacy policy essential for your website?
To adapt their online offerings to the needs of website visitors, companies must process data from prospective customers and current customers. The GDPR sets out clear rules for how they must handle this data.
The GDPR requires website operators that process personal data, among other things, to provide a privacy policy. Transparency plays a significant role in modern business relationships – a clear privacy policy signals professionalism and a sense of responsibility.
If your website’s privacy policy is incomplete, it can not only result in GDPR fines but also damage the trust you have with (potential) customers. Warning letters from competitors or consumer protection organizations also pose a risk to your business. Therefore, it’s important to draft a clear privacy policy and keep it up to date.
Requirements: What information must a website’s privacy policy contain?
The following overview shows you which points must be included in the privacy policy on your website so that neither customers nor competitors nor data protection authorities can object to it.
In addition to the content, it’s important that your privacy policy is clearly worded, up-to-date, and easy to find. Avoid high-flown language and instead explain precisely why you collect data and where it is stored.
Mandatory information in the privacy policy
Art. 13 GDPR specifies what information you must provide to your users regarding the collection of personal data. This means that your privacy policy must answer the following questions :
- Who is responsible for data collection and processing, and how can users contact them or their representative, if applicable?
- Is there a data protection officer, and what are their contact details?
- For what purpose and on what legal basis is data processed?
- To whom will the personal data be transmitted, for example, business partners?
- Is there an intention to transfer the personal data to a third country or an international organization?
Information on the rights of data subjects
An important goal of the GDPR is to strengthen the rights of EU citizens whose data is collected and processed by companies. It provides various data subject rights, such as the right to object to processing.
- Right to information
- Right to erasure
- Right to object to processing
- Right to withdraw consent given
Your privacy policy should explain how data subjects can assert these rights against you – and who they can contact in the event of a complaint.
How to create a legally compliant privacy policy for your website
Creating a transparent and complete privacy policy requires a great deal of expertise and time. To ensure you don’t forget any important information and don’t have to worry about correct wording, you can use privacy policy generators and templates available online.
Numerous free and paid options provide a foundation for your privacy policy. The following points are important:
- Rely on trustworthy providers. This is the only way to ensure that your privacy policy is legally compliant and reflects current legal regulations. With Proliance’s templates, you’re on the safe side.
- There’s no standard template that applies to all companies. Automatically generated texts or templates must be adapted to your company’s unique processes and tools.
- Data protection requirements are constantly changing – and this also applies to the tools, plugins, and services companies use. Therefore, it’s important to regularly check your privacy policy for updates – even if it comes from a trusted source or experts.
Tip: Set a reminder every six months to review your privacy policy – or delegate this task to an external data protection officer who will keep your data protection up to date using data protection software.
3 common website privacy mistakes and how to avoid them
If you want to ensure your privacy policy is accurate, you should avoid the following three mistakes.
1. Missing information about third-party providers used
Companies today use numerous third-party tools and services—and often forget to include them in their privacy policies. This is especially true for less obvious services like fonts.
2. Insufficient information on data subjects’ rights
Unclear information about how users can exercise their rights leads to complaints and legal problems. Therefore, make sure that your privacy policy provides data subjects with all relevant information about their rights.
Privacy Services for Your Website: How Experts Can Help
Are you considering outsourcing your privacy policy to a professional? An experienced data protection expert can tailor your privacy policy to your specific needs and support you with services including the following:
- Comprehensive analysis of your data processing processes
- Identification and elimination of vulnerabilities
- Legally compliant wording for your privacy policy
- Support with implementation, for example, with the correct integration of a cookie banner or the GDPR-compliant setup of tracking tools
- Continuous monitoring of your data protection processes and updating of the data protection declaration
Conclusion: Website privacy is an integral part of your corporate strategy
A legally compliant privacy policy is a necessary investment in your company’s future. If you conscientiously ensure your privacy policy complies with the GDPR, you will avoid legal risks and benefit from increased trust among customers and partners.
Especially for companies with digitized processes throughout the company and automated marketing measures, it makes sense to involve experts – this ensures that your privacy policy takes all tools and services into account and that your website is designed in a legally compliant manner concerning data protection.